Thanks for agreeing to help with our foam people project! I thought it might be helpful to include a few instructions here.
You should have received a foam board marked with the outlines you’ll need to follow. Please note that the way sections are marked to indicate what can be discarded and what should be kept to make the “stand” for your person. You’ll also need an X-acto knife or similar cutter. (Scissors won’t work!) Find an expendable cardboard box to lay under the foam board as you cut, to protect your carpet. I also found it helpful to use a straight-edge (I used a ruler) as a guide for the straight cuts.
Two things to know as you begin:
- BE CAREFUL! We don’t want any sliced fingers or ruined carpets from those sharp cutters. It’s not difficult, but take the time to clear your space and keep children and pets away from cutting edges.
- Don’t worry too much. Sure, you’ve got lines to follow, but don’t sweat it if your cut is a little off. Your person will be one among several dozen, so fine details will hardly be noticed. Even if you cut off a limb or a head (Nearly Headless Nick?!), duct tape can be a great corrective!
Just to keep things straight, I would suggest cutting off the “discard” portions first. This will give you a piece that looks like this. If the pieces don’t pop out readily when you finish the cuts, it probably means you aren’t pressing hard enough to cut through the whole 3/16″ board. Try lengthening your blade (if you’re using one that extends), or just press down further. If you still have spots that are sticking, flip the board over and you’ll probably be able to see those. You can use your cutter to finish those cuts from the back.
After mastering the straight edges, I was worried about cutting out that circular head, but it turned out to be easier than I expected. You can do it with small punctures, moving around the circle, or you can just follow the line (roughly) and you’ll soon have a round(ish!) head! Congratulations–you’ve made a person!
Now to make him stand up. You’ve kept those pieces from both sides at the top to make the stand. First, cut off the point-y end that was at the top of the head.
There’s one more step before you attach the stand to the back of the person. If you used them right now, your person would stand straight up–but there wouldn’t be much stability. We need the person to lean back a bit. So you’ll need to slice off a piece of what will be that bottom edge. I’d measure about an inch and half from where you just cut off that point. Draw a line from that point to the bottom corner, and cut. Now you have a stand that your gal can lean back on. Yay!
Now you’ll attach the stand pieces to your person. (There is no front or back; pick one.) It will be helpful to think of an imaginary line from the inside right foot to the right side of the neck. I drew it here, but you wouldn’t need to. That’s the line the stand should follow. The bottom of the stand will be even with the bottom of the foot. I attached two pieces of duct tape lengthwise near the bottom and top of the stand, set the stand perpendicular on that (imaginary) line, and pressed the tape to hold. It will work better if the tape is on the outer side of each flap, as shown. The tape shouldn’t show from the front side of the person.
You’ll notice that with the stands attached in this way, these foam persons can be stacked flat with the flaps lying outward from center. This will be handy for transport and storage.
Now all that’s left is to paint it! Assuming you’re doing this step, you’ll want to find a well-ventilated spot and make sure the temperature is at least 50 degrees. I put mine on the lawn on a cardboard box and only got a little bit of paint on the grass! Again, don’t worry about perfection on this. Small variations in coverage will be part of their charm.
Thanks so much for your help in bringing this vision to fruition. These 52 guys and gals will be used in worship, and around the building, and hopefully will travel home with some of the participants at our Right Next Door conference, being held October 16-17 at Ankeny First UMC, Uptown. For more information, check out our conference web page at RightNextDoor2015.org.